Smallest are Greatest

I'm on vacation with my family right now in Breckenridge, Colorado. I love going on this vacation every year not because I get a week off of school, or even that I get to rest in general, although those things are great aspects of taking this trip. The main reason that I so love Colorado is that I can walk outside and I can view God's landscape:

Such as at Lake Dylan,

Or looking out from my condo's patio,

These awing landscapes make one thing clear to me:

As great as I make myself, as much money as I get or whatever title I achieve in my future job, I will remain a speck compared to the rest of creation.

Seriously, I have a hard time accepting that people in the world can get so wrapped up in the concerns of their lives and their problems, and everything having to do with them, when they are but a raindrop in a downpour. It doesn't matter how fancy our electronics get or how many gigabytes we can store on one hard drive; it has no importance how fast our cars go or how far we can see into space; in the end, we are still so small compared to the work of God's hands.

"For He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field" Psalm 103:14

"What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" James 4:14

He who makes the sun rise and the earth spin; made heat and cold; light and dark; gravity and friction; He who left His mark on our bodies with Laminin, who limits our lives with genomes; who created genes and molecules and blood; He who created time and logic and thought and emotions... That this person, this Immovable Mover, would love me... that instills in me a God-given feeling of belonging.

Nothing else in this world can make me feel like I belong to someone like my relationship to God. The closest we can get is the intimate relationship between husband and wife, which in and of itself is a fogged mirror of the relationship that God offers.

Who else can unlock my heart as God does? Who else can look into my heart of hearts and understand what is going on? Who else speaks in the whispers of the winds and shows Himself in the sunrise? What other person would create a universe so expanse, and place a man, made in His image, on a single planet and use that man to work out His plan?

This, then, is the reason that I so love the outdoors and being alone in nature. When I sit in the quiet and view God's workmanship, I hear through the silence God's calling to me to come and belong. I find strength in silence not because I strengthen myself, but because I hear God's voice through silence and through the vision of His amazing craft.

So, the reason why I love going to Colorado or going out into the woods or sitting by a creek or taking a long walk is because each time I do, I come back with a renewed feeling that I belong to God.

When I am trampled by this world, I withdraw to a quiet place just as Jesus did; often times, I don't even pray, I simply quiet my voice, my mind, and my heart, so that I can listen to God.

Through these times, I am being transformed into a firmer reflection of Christ, which is all I desire for this life.

"Be Unto Your Name" by Gary Sadler and Lynn DeShazo:

We are a moment, You are forever 
Lord of the Ages, God before time 
We are a vapor, You are eternal 
Love everlasting, reigning on high 

Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty 
Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain 
Highest praises, honor and glory 
Be unto Your name, be unto Your name 

We are the broken, You are the healer 
Jesus, Redeemer, mighty to save 
You are the love song we'll sing forever 
Bowing before You, blessing Your name